Aaron Donald’s return to the NFL won’t happen Down Under.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport report the recently unretired defensive tackle will not travel to Australia for the Los Angeles Rams’ opening game against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne on Friday.
Having not played since 2023, the Rams plan to give the 10-time Pro Bowler more time to ramp up towards game action. Schefter notes that the expectation is that the Pittsburgh native will dress in the team’s Sept. 21 game on Monday Night Football against the New York Giants.
After working out with the team on a number of occasions this summer, the 35-year-old Donald officially signed a new deal with the team on Aug. 30. Donald had spent the entirety of his 10-year career with the team.
Originally taken with the 13th overall pick of the 2014 NFL Draft out of Pitt, Donald is an eight-time first-team All-Pro and a three-time Defensive Player of the Year.
In 154 career games, Donald has registered 543 tackles, 260 QB hits, 24 forced fumbles and 111.0 sacks. He was a member of the Rams team that won Super Bowl LVI in 2022.
